Can You Rely on Income Spit Out by Stocks?

Analysis by AllianceBernstein suggests that companies have the cash to expand dividends over time.

In a world of ultralow interest rates, the quest for income has left many investors stumped. Bonds are generally seen as more dependable sources of income than stocks. But our analysis suggests that income streams from equities are much more stable than widely believed.

On the surface, there are good reasons to consider equities for income. To start with, dividend yields on U.S. stocks today are competitive with fixed-income yields. At the beginning of August, the trailing dividend yield on the S&P 500 was 1.8%, not...